


Hod's New Smile

by firefly124



Category: Sharing Knife - Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-08
Updated: 2011-06-08
Packaged: 2017-10-20 06:22:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/209704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firefly124/pseuds/firefly124
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the Summer 2008 <a href="http://bujold-fic.livejournal.com">bujold_fic</a> ficathon to the prompt “Beguilement from Hod’s point of view.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hod's New Smile

**Author's Note:**

> Bits of quoted dialogue from _Passage_ are italicized. Thanks to [sahiya](http://sahiya.livejournal.com) for beta-reading.

The first time, he was scared. He knew he weren’t supposed to go snitchin’ food like that, but then that demon horse kicked him, and they went and handed him over to that creepy one-armed Lakewalker.

 _“Is he gonna cut off my leg?”_ he sobbed. _“Don’t let him go cuttin’ on me!”_

But that Lakewalker just leaned over him and started hummin’ some sort of healin’ magic, and Hod’s knee started feelin’ warm. Not hot-like from the pain, but a real nice kind of warm that pushed the pain right away. Even did somethin’ to fix the belly-cramps, though that didn’t feel near as good till later. But where there weren’t pain no more felt like the biggest smile Hod could ever imagine. No, bigger.

Came time to move on, Hod weren’t ready to do nothin’ of the kind. Not that Tanner and Mape weren’t good to him. They let him work for ‘em, somethin’ most folks wouldn’t do. But weren’t no one ever made the pain just go away like that before, much less made Hod feel that kind of a smile. He knew who he had to work for now.

~*~

Come to that, he was scared the second time. He’d got himself paid off, and then it looked like the Lakewalker weren’t going to take him on after all, even when he said he didn’t need payin’. Hod ain’t never felt fear like that. Like the pain in his knee had killed the smile and was gonna spread and get worse and worse until he just up and died of it. Like somethin’ was crawlin’ around under his skin, itchin’ to get out.

But the Lakewalker, Dag, did a little more healin’ magic and then run off into the boat with his wife, and Hod weren’t so scared. Oh he was, just a little, but that warm feelin’ in his knee made him smile again, so he weren’t shakin’ in his shoes when they came back to tell him he could stay on the boat after all.

~*~

When Dag magicked that farmer woman, Cress, Hod thought he just might burst the way Dag said her insides might. Hod didn’t want her hurtin’, didn’t want that for nobody, but he didn’t much want Dag usin’ his Lakewalker magic on her neither. Like that time him and Ash both liked that same pretty girl, ’cept it were strange to feel that way about Dag.

That feelin’ didn’t go away neither. Got worse, in fact. Felt like flies buzzin’ around his head and ants crawlin’ under his skin. His knee was the worst. Specially that one night Dag was up playin’ arrows with that other Lakewalker and Whit and Hawthorn. That night, his knee felt like it wanted to crawl right out from under his skin ‘cause it belonged up on deck with ‘em, but he were s’posed to be workin’. The creepin’ and itchin’ wouldn’t stop until he slammed it against the wall, but then that made it hurt again.

Everybody was all upset over that. He tried to tell ‘em, tried to make it make some sense. Nobody’d ever believe about the crawlies tryin’ to get out, so he told ‘em he was tryin’ not to step on the raccoon. Trouble was, nobody believed that either.

 _“Hod, tell me the truth,”_ Dag said, lookin’ like he wanted to pitch Hod off the boat. _“Did you just go and knock your own knee into the wall on purpose?”_

Dag had been nice so far, but now he was mad. Seemed like Lakewalker magic let him see everything, even when he weren’t there.

 _“Fell,” he muttered._ Dag wouldn’t believe him, but he wouldn’t believe about the crawlies neither, so what did it matter?

Except maybe he did understand, ’cause Dag started askin’ all kinds of questions and talkin’ about ‘gilement. Didn’t make no sense, except it sounded like he were sayin’ he couldn’t fix Hod’s knee no more, but maybe that weren’t so bad, long as he weren’t gonna put him off the boat. And Dag seemed to think Hod could help _him_ somehow. Didn’t make no sense how lettin’ that _other_ Lakewalker magic him up this time helped Dag, but seemed like it did. Leastways, Dag seemed happy about it.

Hod didn’t feel like his smile was as big anymore, but at least there weren’t no crawlies.

~*~

The last time, Hod wasn’t scared at all till it was too late. Dag and Remo were doin’ their magic back and forth. Fixed his nose up nice. Made the smile big again. Most of what they said didn’t make no sense, but that didn’t much matter, till Dag went and magicked Hod’s knee again.

Oh, the knee felt better. That weren’t what was wrong. But the rest of it went away. The crawlin’ was already gone since they did his nose, but this time the smile left too. Looked like Dag got it back, from the grin on his face. Hod hadn’t meant to steal his smile, but it looked like maybe that’s what he did. Maybe that’s why Dag let him come along, to get it back.

 _”Uh, I felt … it went away … But … can I still be your friend?”_

Weren’t no crawlies this time, but Hod felt more scared than ever.

 _“Yes, Hod, you surely can,”_ Dag said. _“You surely can.”_

The smile Hod got when Dag said that was bigger ’n ever, and without takin’ Dag’s smile away neither.


End file.
